Chelsea 4 Morecambe 0
Timo Werner ended his 12-match goal drought as Chelsea cruised past Morecambe 4-0 at Stamford Bridge and into the FA Cup fourth round.
Mason Mount toasted his 22nd birthday with a fine 25-yard strike, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kai Havertz also on target.
Misfiring Germany forward Werner was pitched in despite the League Two opposition, with boss Frank Lampard desperate to kick-start his £53million signing’s goal return.
Werner bungled an early chance to raise fears that Lampard’s plan could backfire, but the 24-year-old later tapped home the easiest of finishes, much to Chelsea’s collective relief.
Summer RB Leipzig capture Werner wound up toiling 827 minutes without a Chelsea goal, charting back to the Blues’ 4-1 thrashing of Sheffield United on November 7th.
Lampard will desperately hope the goal infuses the pacey forward with confidence, with the Blues expected to rise quickly from ninth place in the Premier League table.
Newport County 1 Brighton 1 (Brighton won 4-3 on pens aet, 1-1 after 90 mins)
Brighton survived a penalty shoot-out at Newport to book a place in the fourth round, winning 4-3 on spot-kicks after the tie had been drawn 1-1 after 120 minutes.
Goalkeeper Jason Steele, who was at fault for Newport’s equaliser in the final seconds of normal time, made four penalty saves to send the Seagulls through.
Brighton thought they had won the tie when Solly March struck from the edge of the penalty area with just 10 seconds of the 90 minutes remaining.
But Newport saved themselves with the final act in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Steele letting Liam Shephard’s cross slip through his grasp and the unfortunate Adam Webster diverted the ball into his own net to set up extra time.
Webster, though, scored the decisive spot-kick after Pascal Gross, Lewis Dunk and Davy Propper had been on target for Brighton, with Joss Labadie, Ryan Taylor and Jamie Proctor replying for Newport.
Defeat was harsh on Newport’s outstanding goalkeeper Tom King, who made two stops in the shoot-out himself after earlier denying Andi Zeqiri and Dunk with breathtaking saves.
Manchester City 3 Birmingham City 0
Bernardo Silva struck twice early on as Manchester City eased into the FA Cup fourth round with a comfortable 3-0 win over Championship side Birmingham.
Phil Foden also netted in the first half as 2019 winners City began their latest cup quest with a routine victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Birmingham, 18th in the Championship and without a win in their previous six games, rarely troubled the hosts aside from a Jeremie Bela-led late flurry when the result was already beyond doubt.
City could have won by more, such was their dominance, and Riyad Mahrez had a second-half effort ruled out for offside.
City had hoped their starting line-up would feature record goalscorer Sergio Agüero for the first time since October but the Argentinian, who is being eased back into action after knee trouble, did not even make the bench.
No explanation for his absence was given before the game but the club did confirm the 32-year-old was not injured and was otherwise unavailable. There were reports the player was self-isolating but these were not confirmed.
Agüero’s presence, however, was hardly required on this occasion as City made easy work of Birmingham.
Bristol City 2 Portsmouth 1
A brilliant 83rd-minute strike from Chris Martin saw Bristol City through to the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-1 victory over impressive Portsmouth at Ashton Gate.
Famara Diedhiou fired the Sky Bet Championship side in front after 19 minutes with a sweet left-footed strike from just outside the box after exchanging passes with Hakeeb Adelakun.
But League One Pompey hit back on the stroke of half-time when Andrew Cannon pulled the ball back from the left and right-back Callum Johnson slotted a low drive past Dan Bentley from 15 yards.
Portsmouth were looking the more likely winners when Martin found the roof of the net with a superb right-footed shot on the turn from 20 yards to settle the outcome.
Even then, the underdogs were denied a last-gasp equaliser when Bentley saved superbly from substitute Jordy Hiwula.
Barnsley 2 Tranmere Rovers 0
Michal Helik and Cauley Woodrow grabbed the second-half goals that earned Barnsley a 2-0 FA Cup third round win over Tranmere at Oakwell.
Helik headed Barnsley ahead on 59 minutes and Woodrow wrapped up victory from the penalty spot in injury time.
Tykes manager Valerien Ismael will have been equally pleased by Polish centre-back Helik’s contribution at the other end of the pitch, as his team kept their first clean sheet in 12 outings.
